According to the group's Web site, Staten Island-born rap conglomerate Wu-Tang Clan had cleared the first ever legal sample of a Beatles song, George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," for use on its new record, "8 Diagrams."

Sampling, a process where an instrumental, vocal or rhythmic portion of a recording is used as an element in a new song, is ubiquitous in modern pop music -- especially rap. One of the most infamous cases of sampling made news when rapper Vanilla Ice drew controversy for using the bass line from Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" as a major part of his own song "Ice Ice Baby," without paying royalties or crediting the two other artists.

Paying for use of a sample can cost an artist anywhere from a few thousand to tens of millions of dollars, depending on the arrangement and success of the song.

But in the case of the Fab Four's music thus far, no price has been convincing enough. The Beatles' catalogue, the sampling of which is controlled in part by living members Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, widows and surviving family members of Harrison and John Lennon, has been guarded doggedly against such use.

A news item on the rap group's official Web page (www.wutang-corp.com) said on Tuesday that they had cleared the "first ever Beatles sample," which will be used in the new song, "Gently Weeps."

The Wu response: "The statement on Wu-Tang Clan's myspace site is incorrect and we apologize for any confusion it may have caused. We did not sample the Beatles, rather we did an interpolation of the classic George Harrison composition 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.' In a historic collaboration, Dhani Harrison, son of George, through his friendship with the RZA, played guitar on the song and he himself helped secure the reuse license. Also appearing on the song are John Frusciante, guitar player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Erykah Badu singing the chorus. To satisfy everyone's curiosity, the song will be streamed exclusively on loud.com tonight. It will be the first single and video from the forthcoming album '8 Diagrams,' in stores December 4."

Hmm. Think the Wu-Tang took a page out of the 50 Cent-Kanye West book on how to bump music sales?